Music and funding rights have been secured for a movie based on former Beatles manager Brian Epstein, whom Paul McCartney called the 'Fifth Beatle' (probably much to ex-drummer Pete Best's dismay).

In an unprecedented move, Vivack Tiwary ('American Idiot,' 'The Addams Family') will be able to use six to 10 Beatles songs in the upcoming film.

I have signed and fully executed a deal with Sony/ATV, who control the Lennon/McCartney music catalog, and I'm proud to report we will have Beatles music in our film," Tiwary told The Hollywood Reporter. The Beatles (and the bandmembers' survivors' estates) have not endorsed The Fifth Beatle, but a source says reps have signed off on the script and enabled music rights to be used.

We have the ironclad rights [or] ability to use the following songs, with the option to 'swap out' later for other songs if we decide to change the list: 'All You Need Is Love,' 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away,' 'A Day in the Life,' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' 'Yesterday,' 'Eleanor Rigby,' 'Help!' 'You Never Give Me Your Money,' 'Girl,' 'A Hard Day's Night,' 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Come Together'.

Epstein, a man often credited with helping the Beatles skyrocket to success, was a closeted gay man when it was illegal in the U.K. He died of an overdose in 1967, a month after homosexuality was legalized.

Plot points that would be interesting to see in the film are his brilliant managerial mind, his depression and repression and his will-they-won't-they relationship with Beatle John Lennon. It has been long speculated that Lennon and Epstein were romantically involved. They've got the rights to "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," the song some people think Lennon wrote for Epstein. Is the 'Fifth Beatle' going to go there?